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Saturday, October 15, 2016

JASON GOODWIN'S YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL

I am reposting Jason Goodwin's announcement of his Yashim cookbook. I have pre-ordered my copy. I recommend that readers consider it as a magnificennt Holiday--or any time--present.

Dear Yashimite (if I may),

Last week we took delivery of the first copies of Yashim Cooks Istanbul, the book designed to take you deeper into the world of Yashim's Ottoman adventures. I'm writing because you have enjoyed the novels, from The Janissary Tree to The Baklava Club, and might wish to hear more about this unique celebration of 19thcentury Istanbul’s leading gourmet sleuth.

Following Yashim’s adventures in his kitchen, Yashim Cooks Istanbul contains all sorts of easy, traditional recipes from the Ottoman capital and its hinterlands. There are simple and delicious family dishes like a Greek fisherman’s stew, pumpkin soup or eggplant chicken wraps, alongside more unusual recipes for feasts, from stuffed mackerel, to hazelnut and lemon pilaf, or fish poached in paper.There are lots of recipes for vegetarians and pescatarians, interwoven with illustrations, photos and descriptions which evoke the world of 19th century Istanbul, including extracts from the novels which you may enjoy.Those of you who kindly volunteered to test one will find the finished recipe here, along with your name in the acknowledgements, because the book could not have happened without your thoughtful input.My favourite combination of recipe and extract is The Assassin’s Steak Tartare, a classic recipe accompanied by the passage in which Yashim struggles with a Tartar assassin at the window of a Venetian palazzo...

The book has a distinctive cover, appropriate for the themes of crime, cooking and Istanbul, but also rather suitable for Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful hardback with 224 colour pages and an index to the extracts and recipes. You might find a signed copy would make a good Christmas present!

Yashim Cooks Istanbul goes on sale in the bookshops and bookstores on October 27th in the UK, and November 15th in the USA. If you have already ordered your copy or copies, thank you: they’ll be sent out to you right away. If you’d still like to order an early copy or two, signed and free of postage charges, you can do so here.If any of your friends would be interested, please share this email with them - and do get in touch if you think of anyone I ought to contact. It is, after all, a small world.best wishes,Jason

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